Thursday, September 29, 2011

Hey Everyone!
Now that Autumn is officially here, the makeup, hair products and perfume that I use on a daily basis have changed drastically from what i was using during the Summer. You may recall the post i published in July which listed the products that i found myself reaching for during the Summer, well, that post received pretty good feedback, so i decided to write another 'Beauty Essentials' post for Autumn! Let's get started!

Hey Everyone!
Apparently, a few days ago I caught whatever bug has been going around lately. For the past few days my life has been sitting around in my pajamas in my room, eating soup and grilled cheese and having 'The Big Bang Theory' marathons/studying. Today, my friend decided to come over after school to my house so we could hang out.. (she ignored my warnings of how she would most likely get sick because of me).

Before you begin to think I'm a little crazy, I never wear makeup when I'm sick. but since my friend is coming over, i don't want to look like I'm the living dead with dark circles and pale, sickly skin. However! I don't want to have to put on an entire face worth of makeup, so today i'm going to talk to you a little about the products i'm going to use to make myself look like one of the living again.

So, the way i see it, i only need concealer, eye liner, lip chap, and my NARS deep throat blush to achieve that no makeup, 'yeah, I'm sick but i still look hot naturally' look....

Hey everyone!
Today's nail of the day is one of the more recent polishes to hit my collection, Essie's E-nuf is E-nuf. It is a absolutely stunning subdued creamy coral. As per usual with Essie polishes, I was very impressed by this varnish. It has pretty opaque coverage on the first coat, and is not streaky in the slightest. E-nuf is E-nuf is definitely more of a Summer color, but since the weather here in Canada has been so gloomy lately, I decided that a bright, cheery nail color was just the thing to pick me up! Here i've applied 2 coats of enuf is enuf and OPI top coat.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

I recently got back from my first ever bikram (hot) yoga class and
thought I'd just do a quick blurb about it's benefits and my experience
with it. Hot Yoga is basically just yoga in a heated room, around 38
degrees Celsius or about 99 degrees Fahrenheit.

What is it?

Hot Yoga is a cleansing, powerful and expansive
approach to Yoga. The hot environment stimulates the skin to sweat,
which is an effective means for eliminating toxins in the body. The
heat supports the lubrication of joints and it softens stiff muscles,
and it’s beneficial for maintaining cardiovascular health. - mykula.ca
It's very popular with celebrities this year. Nina Dobrev and Michael
Trevino are two examples of celebs who have tried bikram yoga and
really enjoy it.

Hey Everyone!
One of the most recent perfumes to hit my collection is the original coach poppy perfume. I've been contemplating purchasing this perfume for the longest time, but I could never bring myself to spend $70 on yet another perfume. A couple weeks ago I finally gathered up the nerve to just buy it, and i am so glad i did!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Helloooo everyone!
I recently did a little shopping at Sherway in Etobicoke with a few girl friends and I thought that I would share my purchases with y'all! I decided that as a little birthday treat to myself, i would splurge a little and purchase some Fall essentials and a few things that I've had my eye on for awhile. This haul doesn't include any of my birthday presents, but if you'd like to see a birthday haul post, let me know. Below are some close ups of my purchases as well as links to where you can purchase the clothes and perfumes...

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Sephora has just come out with a press on and peel off eye shadows, called ColorOn, invented by Irena Iosilevich. I'm very intrigued by the concept of being able to press on an entire eye shadow look in just a few seconds and go. This line offers a variety of different looks, including smokey and neutral eyes as well as some more eccentric looks, including zebra and leopard print!

According to the application steps, getting perfect, professional looking eye shadow couldn't be more easy to achieve. You simply have to place it sticky on your closed lid and smooth out all the creases. Next, you are to peel back the appliqué, blend any imperfections and set the shadow with a setting powder to finish. This sounds pretty fool proof, right?

I don't know how great ColorOn is going to work for different eye shapes, or how well the eye shadow is going to transfer from the appliqué to the eye. I'm a little skeptical about this product, but I'm also very intrigued. I will definitely be driving over to my local Sephora to purchase these soon so I can try them out for myself and give a full review on them.

For now though, what do you guys think about the concept of a press on/peel off eye shadow? Let me know below.
Have a great day!

For more information on this product, and for the source of the photo click here

Monday, September 5, 2011

Hey Everyone!
Since my freshman year, I've had, what i believed to be, irreversibly and eternally dry, chapped lips. I used to have a horrible habit of licking my lips, and biting my bottom lip really hard when i was nervous, or scared, or angry. As you can imagine, this resulted in chapped lips that basically never went away. I tried all sorts of lip balms and salves from Burts Bee's to Rosebud Salve, you name a brand of lip balm/chap, and it's been on my lips. Although those products seemed to work for other people, they didn't help me, and it seemed like no matter what i tried or what i did I couldn't get rid of the dryness, which was of course, unappealing and made me feel a little uncomfortable. Who knew that the answer to my problem, like most, was actually at the bottom of my makeup case.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Hey everyone!
About a year ago I went shopping at Sephora in search of a good makeup removing oil, instead of an oil, I came across the Clinique Take the Day Off cleansing balm. Intrigued by its large packaging and the concept of a solid balm removing my makeup, i purchased it, overlooking its price tag. A little under a year later that same cleansing balm is still going strong and has become one of my staple products.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Hey Everyone!
Lately, I've noticed a new trend growing in the nail universe...gel manicures. They are the same as a regular manicure except instead of regular nail polish, once your nails have been buffed, cut, and your cuticles are pushed back, a layer of gel polish which is similar to acrylic is applied to each nail. After each coat of gel polish is applied, your nails are left to dry under a UV light for a couple minutes to dry and set the polish, this is continued for several coats until they are done. It wasn't until i learned that the manicure promises to remain that way, almost completely chip free, for 2-3 weeks that i become intrigued and decided to do a little bit of research.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Hey Everyone!
When Summer began, I knew straight away that I didn't want to wear any foundation. I wanted something light weight, that provided a little bit of coverage, so began my quest to find the perfect tinted moisturizer. I tried both drugstore and department store brands but I couldn't find exactly what i was looking for, I began to give up, when i remembered the Arbonne sheer finish tinted moisturizer, unopened and lying at the bottom of my makeup kit. The name of this particular product kind of scared me a little, which is why i had been hesitant to try it out in the first place. 'Sheer' was not what i was looking for, i definitely wanted some coverage. But boy, am i glad that i gave this baby a chance, because it has now become a staple in my every day makeup case. For my full review on this little miracle, keep reading.

Hey Everyone!
With school just around the corner, i thought that now would be a good time to share with you a couple tips for choosing a back to school bag, choosing your school supplies, how to decorate your locker, and just a few tips for starting the new year. I'm going to warn you now so that you can prepare yourself, i think that this is the longest post I've ever written.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

I don't usually carry a purse with me when I go to school, unless I have plans to go out after school, or I have Co-op that semester. I do have co-op this year, so I'll be carrying both a purse and a tote bag with me. This post is going to list some items both beauty and not that I think are essential to have on you during the day in your purse. Of course, if you have a back pack, you can still use this list, for sure, but you might have to make some adjustments to make sure it fits in your bag with your binders and the rest of your supplies.

Hey Everyone!
Have you ever noticed what a big impact highlighting the inner corner of your eyes can make? In my opinion, the inner corner highlight is a crucial makeup step that can do so much for your face, but many people skip. It has the power to brighten your entire face without anyone being able to pinpoint why you look so youthful, it makes tired eyes look more awake, and interestingly enough, highlighting your inner corner actually widens and separates eyes by giving the illusion that they're further apart. How cool is that? In today's post, i'm going to show you how to highlight your inner corner using both eye shadow and shadow sticks/highlighting pencils, providing useful tips along the way. Let's get started!

Tools:

- a shade stick, highlighter pencil, or eye shadow in white, light nude or pale pink. - The less shimmery, the less detectible. but if you want people to notice shimmer, then it's fine to use shimmery shadows.

(Good options are NYX jumbo shadows, Benefit Eye Bright - a matte pink, MAC Shroom, Vanilla, Chamomile, Brule, Urban Decay Virgin from the Naked Palette). Those are only a few options, really, just find a high light color that suits your skin toneand is matte.

When I think of September, I think of school, my birthday, neutral colors and jewel tones, end of Summer sales, and of course, my favorite season, autumn. Now that summer is almost officially over, and the leaves are slowly beginning to change color, the trends are changing too, so I felt like it would be appropriate to have my first post for September be a Fall 2011 trends list. This list includes trends for beauty, nails, and hair. As well, my good friend, and fashion maven, Lacey from SimplyLacey recently attended the rack-to-rack fun shop and wrote an entire post dedicated to this season's fashion trends, so I'll leave a link for that post at the bottom. Let's begin...